The Oasis Alchemist
by Dream0Summoner0Alchemist
Summary: This is the story of Noelani, a young woman from the Great Desert of Amestris.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note_**

Hello. This is an old fic that I had been thinking about and organizing every now and then, writing notes and ideas for the plot. Recently, I decided to rejoin fanfiction once again to give digital existence to my ideas. Anyway, my original character is Noelani, but I'll leave the details in the story. Just to let you know, I'm slightly Royai biased. Just a heads up. When typing this, I realized my prologue was very short, but since I'm putting it with the first chapter it doesn't really matter. Before publishing, I will edit this as much as I can, but please forgive me if I have some slight errors. When it comes to typing and editing, I have a brain lapse every now and then. Also I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters. I think it will be obvious which characters are of my own creation.

_**Prologue**_

"I hate the cold…"

Slowly but surely, a figure in blue trudged up the snowy mountain trail. The only real hint of a path was the fact that on either side was an impenetrable wall of evergreen trees, while straight ahead the way was clear. The only sound was the crunching of snow under boots and the occasional grumble of complaint of the bothersome temperature. The young woman dressed in blue military drab was wearing a pair of glasses that prevented snow-blindness, but she was used to the desert sands reflecting merciless glares of sunlight.

Noelani let out a sigh looking up into the sky, her dark brown hair falling out from her tan face. She listened for something, anything. But the only thing audible was her own breathing. She would never admit it, but she felt frightened, being so far away from her horse, her best friend, her sister.

With another sigh, she continued up the snowy slope alone.

**_Chapter I_**

Noelani noticed the slope was beginning to flatten. This meant she was approaching her destination. Deciding she deserved a break, she made her way to the tree line, but made sure not to be directly under any snow laden branches. Since the snow was about a foot thick, she would have to clear a spot, unless she wanted to sit in snow and have it melt into her uniform. Picking a spot, Noelani held her hands out in front of her. A blue glow emitted from her hands as she focused. In a split second, the snow was transformed into a warm vapor, leaving a somewhat dry spot adequate for sitting.

As she sat down cross-legged, she pulled out her pocket watch. She estimated that she had about ten minutes to catch her breath. A ten minute break after several hours of walking up a snowy mountain trail may not have seem like enough, but for Noelani, it was just fine. Her childhood lifestyle had left her with the endurance of a desert horse.

Noelani sipped out of her canteen and ate a bit of dried meat for a boost of energy. Even though this trip was only going to last the day, she conserved her food and water like she was going to be in the wilderness for a week. She took the phrase "You can never be too careful" to heart.

For the last few minutes of her break, Noelani wanted to practice a new trick she had been working on back at Central. She had all the resources she needed right in front of her. Still sitting, she held her hands to the snow. As blue shone from her palms, snow was drawn to the area of her focus. When the transmutation was finished, the compacted snow was now ice. This time, however, Noelani put more focus into form. What was now in front of her was a small, gorgeous ice replica of a desert stallion in a combative pose. The color of the little equine was a deep blue because the ice was very dense and there was no air trapped within it, as it is in natural ice.

Smiling at her finished product, Noelani silently thanked her commanding officer for her beautiful white gloves with an even more beautiful blue thread that formed the transmutation circles on her palms.

--

"Finally... a sign of people."

Noelani had come to a posted sign that read, "Government Property: No Trespassing!"

"Good thing I'm the government," she muttered to herself as she moved on past the sign.

About half a kilometer past the sign, Noelani came to a crossroads in the path. Without hesitation, she headed up the left path, which was steeper than her current path. This trail was much narrower and less used. The tree line wasn't neat, and sometimes she would stumble on a rock hidden in the snow. This trail was also much more convoluted than the last one.

She could have kept straight on her original path, but she was on a, more or less, sneaking mission. As she climbed, she thought about what she had to do. Noelani was on her way to a military lab on top of a mountain on the Amestris side of the Amestris-Drachma border. Here, scientists who specialize in creating chimeras captured local wild animals to make beasts that could do more than normal animals. Noelani's mission was simple. She was supposed to check up on the lab's activities, document her findings, and if she wished, bring back a specimen. Most importantly, she was supposed to make sure the lab wasn't doing anything illegal, like transmuting humans into chimeras. The best way to do this was to arrive unexpectedly, catching the lab off guard, with nothing to hide.

Finally the steep incline opened into a flat, clear area. In the center of the snow field was a fairly large lab building, dull and old looking. Surrounding the building was a three-meter tall fence, and Noelani could see a couple of dogs patrolling the perimeter. She was about a hundred meters from the fence, still in the trees and out of sight of the dogs.

She spotted the front gate.

"I guess it's now or never," she thought as she stepped out into the open.

Within half a minute, the dogs spotted her and raised the alarm. Within another half minute, a guard in a white snow-suit emerged from a pair a huge steel doors. He approached the front gate, assault rifle in hand.

Noelani immediately held her hands up in a gesture of peace and yelled, "I'm here from Central!"

The guard seemed to relax slightly and waited for the young government official.


	2. Chapter 2

Excerpt from The Nameless Tribe (1857), written by Nathaniel Rathborne.

_**"A history as told by Amal, fire-tamer, son and Prince of the Wind Riders:**_**"**

_"... 'No written history?' I asked him, baffled by these starnge people._

_'No. Nothing,' he repeated. No less patient than before, 'But we do pass on our history through word of mouth, and sometimes through art and music.'_

_I nodded, even if this concept of no written past was beyond me, 'But your people practice alchemy, writing down new discoveries and techniques?'_

_'But of course,' he replied, if not a tad more excited, 'How else are we to keep track?'_

_We both laughed aloud._

_As the night progressed, people were retiring to rest, one by one, until Amal and I were the last ones awake. The fire gleamed in his silver eyes as he stared into the dying embers._

_He looked up suddenly, his eyes shining with a light from within, 'God has told me to tell you our story. Do with it as you wish.'_

_I nodded, knowing not to question Amal by now._

_He looked into the flames once again, 'For forever, the animals ruled the earth. For a long time, God was happy. But soon, a sad lonliness entered Her heart. She wished to have children of Her own, who looked and tought like Her, to live on the earth with Her animals. When She made the first humans, they were just like the animals, so She blessed them with a knowledge not unlike Her own, 'You shall be of emcompassing mind,' and so they were._

_'As the humans began their lives, God could see that their physical bodies were not as well adapted to a life on earth as the animals. So She told them, 'Befriend the animals, escpecially the Horse, the Wind Incarnate, who will guide you to prosperity.' and so they did'...'"_

**_Chapter 2_**

It was a nice spring day in Central. Too bad Roy Mustang couldn't enjoy it. He still had a ton to do, which he would probably only do at Riza's gunpoint.

Twirling a pencil bewtween his fingers, the colonel sighed heavily. Paper work was not what he signed up for.

"Colonel..." Riza's voice broke his train of thought. She said nothing else, knowing that Roy knew very well what he was supposed to be doing.

Tossing the pencil, he leaned back dramtically in his chair, threw his arms up in the air, and declared, "Let's just leave already!"

Seemingly unphased by the spectacle, Riza simply replied pointing to the two-foot tall paper tower, "All of those forms must be signed by the end of this week."

To the untrained, it would seem that Riza wasn't going to give in, but Roy could read every little signal. He knew he was getting to her... after almost six hours.

"Let's just leave it for tomorrow!" he cried, "Today is simply too beautiful to pass by!"

Riza checked the clock. It was two in the afternoon. What harm would come from leaving two hours early?

Roy grinned as he read Riza's thoughts pass across her face. She _**was**_ getting sloppy. With a stretch, he got up out of the chair and was out the door in a flash. As he made his way toward the exit, he could sense Riza not too far behind. She would never admit it, but she was just as happy to leave.

Roy continued his triumphant march right out the main door. Before he could even think to declare his freedom, a flash of white raced by him.

"Not again!" he moaned, stopping in mid-step.

A young, blond man in a military uniform ran up to Roy. Havoc was completely out of breath, "Broke... free... groom... knocked out..."

Before he could reply, Riza was pushed her way past the two men and was after the renegade, "What the hell are you waiting for Roy?!" she yelled furiously.

He followed his subordinate, feeling the irony of the situation. They hopped in Roy's car, Riza driving of course, and they sped off, hoping to cut off the runaway.

This chase was all too familiar. Riza knew exactly where she was going and wasn't afraid to break a few traffic laws to get there. All Roy could do was hang on for dear life and wait for his que.

Soon enough, after zooming past stop signs and red lights, they headed off their quarry. As the two opposing forces sped toward each other, the horse realized what was happening and made a one-eighty.

"Gotcha," Riza said, almost enjoying the excitement, "Get ready Roy."

Just like the past thousand times, the mare was headed toward the northern bridge that led out of the city. Once they were on that bridge, the mare could be cornered. The only uncertainty was which side of the bridge she would decide to take. Hopefully, it would be the right.

However, luck was not with Roy today. The horse had once again decided to run up the left-hand side of the bridge. Riza hit the gas and caught up and slowly veered to the left until the animal was an arm's length away.

"Just take the wheel," she said as she rolled down the window and grabbed hold of the lead rope, flapping in the wind. As Roy held the wheel steady, Riza eased on the brakes until they came to a stop. Strangely enough, the horse didn't struggle. It was as if she had gotten tired of playing a game.

As the word "useless" echoed in his head, Roy got out and walked around the car and took the lead rope "I'll meet you back at the police stables..." he moaned gloomily.

"Yes, sir," was the reply. Riza turned the car around and drove back the way they had come, in a much less maniacal way.

"Well, Alma," the colonel said to the gorgeous, snow-white mare, "Let's get you back home. So much for an afternoon off, eh?"

Until Alma made her way in Roy Mustang's life, the colonel thought all horses were the same. Not this one. For goodness sakes, he was talking to her, wasn't he? She paid attention to his words, ears pricked forward.

They set off for "home". To save himself from boredom, Roy recounted all the previous mishaps Alma had been the center of. The mare always had one ear pointed towards him, but she looked around in all directions at whatever caught her attention.

--

"Sometimes wonder why we even bother..." Roy's words trailed off as he sat in the passenger's seat, watching the night-life of the city pass by.

"Well," Riza began, "I'm pretty sure Noelani wasn't kidding when she said she'd kill you if you let Alma run off. Especially since it was your idea to keep the horse here."

"I thought it would be doing her a favor," Roy replied, exasperated. He thought about the day he had sent off Noelani on her first mission to the North. He remembered suggesting letting the police stable grooms take care of Alma at home instead of making Noelani drag the mare up the mountains.

At the time, he didn't know why she had that sly, all-knowing look on her face as she said, "All right, but I'll kill you if something happens to her because of your inattention."

Roy had laughed, saying, "Oh, how I just love your jokes, Noelani! Really!" She had laughed too, but only after did Roy realize it was at him, not with him.

All Roy could think now was, "Thank God for Elizabeth Hawkeye and her non-inattention and boundless patience for me." If Noelani wasn't as scary as Riza sometimes, she was indeed a competitor.

"I need a goddamn drink," he grumbled, slouching in his seat.

"Yes, sir," was the reply to those all too familiar words.


End file.
